I am as big an opponent of online DRM as anyone - I only buy my digital games from GOG - but The Crew is a rather poor example, […]
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I am as big an opponent of online DRM as anyone - I only buy my digital games from GOG - but The Crew is a rather poor example, almost clickbait-grade in my opinion.
Let's see. An online-only game, with no single-player content at all (per my understanding), which was from the day of its release tied to the servers of the publisher. What exactly did you expect?
That the publisher shall be legally obligated to keep the gaming servers online until the heat death of the universe?
That the publisher, before unplugging the servers, shall be legally obligated to add single-player content to the game and release it for free? Or perhaps add a LAN mode? Release the game's source so that someone else can hack it and run their own third party software?
You probably didn't expect any of that. The game already became useless with the shutdown of the servers 2 weeks ago. Yes, removing it from the accounts may seem like a unilateral license revocation, which is what got people pissed. I suppose Ubisoft did it to cut down on tech support calls from people trying to launch the game and getting an error.
All in all - it's like buying a punch card subscription to a gym or an amusement park. Even if there is no expiration date on card, one must understand that the gym / park can one day simply shut down / move / go out of business.
I have in front of me a different example, which encompasses both a good and a bad approach from a published: the PC versions of Rovio's Angry Birds games.
Every copy of every such game ever bought or downloaded is the full version installer, with a short playable demo, and the rest locked behind an online activation code. You would get the code inside the case of your retail copy, or emailed to you after buying the game in the digital store.
Years ago, Rovio stopped selling the games, and did a curious thing - rigged the activation servers to simply accept any codes given to them - suddenly the full games became free, since you could find the installers on various websites, even after Rovio took them off their own. It was obvious, though, that at some point, the servers would be taken offline (and I made a point activating all my copies), which finally happened earlier this year.
So now - even if you have a legal retail copy with a code - you cannot activate it if you haven't done so yet. Well, no biggie - it probably took less than a week for someone to figure out how to crack the local activation check.
